Platitudes, Punks, and Percs
by penguino3782
Summary: Mickey's plan when Gallagher was finally having the corrective surgery on his hand was to get hammered and pass out. That went out the window when Lip tracked him down. Another part of my "Self Preservation" verse.


**Disclaimer: I don't own shameless.**

**A/N: I had several people tell me how much they enjoyed my other Lip/Mickey bonding fic so I decided to do another. Here you guys go, another part of my "Self Preservation" verse. This piece comes after "Coming to Understandings" but before "Instincts."**

**Platitudes, Punks, and Percs**

The sun peaking through the broken blinds is what Mickey wakes up to. There's a steady pounding in his head. He's fucking hungover. It was probably not the best idea to chug that six pack when he got home after leaving the Gallagher's last night. He looks at the clock by his bed that was about fifteen years out of date to see that it was 7:41. Fuck that. He's not opening the store today so he rolls over to fall back asleep.

Only sleep doesn't come that easy. He dozes off but he can't fall back into a sound sleep. He's constantly twisting in his sheets trying to find the perfect sleep position to no avail. When he opens his eyes again he sees that it's 8:19. WTF! Why can't he sleep? It's only February. It's not like he's trying to sleep in ninety degree weather with his balls sticking to his leg because of the heat. Why can't he fucking sleep? He smacks his flattened pillow more violently than he has to in hopes that maybe the new configuration of his pillow will help him fall asleep quicker in his for once quiet house. He closes his eyes again, letting the strange silence of the Milkovich house soothe him back to sleep. Seconds later his eyes instantly pop open. He looks at the fucking clock that's mocking him again. It's 8:57.

His father is in jail and his brothers are off wherever the fuck they are. That leaves just him and Mandy at the house. Mandy is usually loud as fuck when she gets ready for school. Banging cabinets and barging through his room to get to the bathroom and take a shower. But the house has been mysteriously quiet this morning. The shower never ran. He would have heard it since it's literally on the other side of the wall where his bed is. No cabinets were slammed in Mandy's preparations for making her breakfast.

Mickey instantly sits up. "Fuck! Fuck all!" He knows why Mandy never made any noise this morning. Mandy never showered. Normally Mickey would assume that it's because his sister never came home last night. But that's not the case. Mandy stayed up with him last night when they got back from the Gallagher house. The two of them did a pretty decent job downing more than their fare share of booze. Neither one mentioning what was weighing so heavily on their minds.

It's the day they've been waiting for months. Since the redheaded Gallagher first landed in the hospital thanks to his fucking father, Frank. Since Dr. Lee gave them the news that Gallagher's hand was fucked up permanently, even after the second surgery to try and correct it. In the months following that awful day Mickey, Mandy, and the Gallagher's had to sit by helplessly as they watched Ian struggle with everyday tasks and suffer through excruciating pain with no way out because the damn surgery that could fix it was too damn expensive. But, thanks to Mickey's 'negotiation' with Jimmy's baby-sitter or whatever the fuck he was, the Gallagher's were finally given the break they needed. With a very generous donation the Gallagher's were able to pay off the redhead's hospital bills and were able to get Ian the surgery he needed. And that's where Ian is now.

Mickey gets up and puts on halfway decent clean (or smelling) clothing. After he puts his shoes on, he sits back down on his bed. What the fuck does he do now? Mandy said something last night about sticking around the Gallagher house to baby sit the youngest Gallagher and to make sure that the little sociopath didn't maim any neighborhood strays.

And there's no way in hell he's going to sit in the hospital next to firecrotch's sister to hear how the surgery went. He's not a patient guy and he's not gonna be able to just sit there waiting to hear what the doctor has to say about physical therapy and best possible scenarios. Mickey swallows nervously as his head pounds a little harder from his hangover. He tries to swallow his fear that this surgery isn't going to work. That Gallagher's hand will still be fucked up. That all this was for nothing.

"Fuck it," Mickey says as he leaves his house.

**XXXXX**

"Fancy seeing you here!" a voice calls.

Mickey lets the smoke of his cigarette out of his nostrils, as he places the beer that he's been nursing for the last twenty minutes down. He turns his head to see the punk ass Lip, smirking like a fucking idiot at him. "Fuck off, Gallagher. I'm in no mood for your shit today."

Lip gives him the finger as the young genius takes a seat next to him on the cold cement ground. "Cold as fuck out here."

Mickey takes another drag of his cigarette. "No one told you to being your ass up here. I don't need any company up here."

Lip snickers as he takes out a cigarette of his own and lights it. "Yeah, well your sister disagrees with you on that sentiment. She told me how you got completely fucked up last night."

Mickey takes a sip of his beer. "My sister needs to shut the fuck up and worry about her own shit and stay the fuck out of mine. Did she tell you how fucked up she got last night?"

Lip just nods his head. "We all got pretty shitty last night. We all needed something to take the edge off. Fuck, I think Ian was the only one that wasn't hammered."

Mickey ignores Lip and continues to stare down at his beer.

"I couldn't sit in that fucking hospital any longer. I figured that I at least owe it to her to make sure that you're not passed out in pool of your own puke since she's on Carl duty."

Mickey knows that Lip's answer is bullshit. He knows that Mickey would never do that. Never hurt himself to the extent that he would leave firecrotch. They came too far to let his fears get the best of him. Plus, Mandy has stepped over his unconscious body to use the bathroom on several occasions. She really doesn't give two shits if he's passed out drunk.

"Bullshit. I know Mandy didn't ask you to come check on me." Mickey finishes his beer and doesn't waste any time as he opens a fresh one. "So, why the fuck are you really here?"

Lip runs his hand through his hair as he takes another drag from his cigarette. "Listen before he and you became whatever the fuck you are to each other, he was my brother." Lip stops for a second before he starts again, this time in a more gentle tone, "my little brother."

Brother. Sounds so strange to hear that word in a caring manner. Mickey has never heard it that way. His brothers have beat the shit out of him on more than one occasion and vice versa. They stole his shit more times than he can count. However, he does have to give them credit when it's due. They are always up to go with Mickey when he needed help to collect a debt, beat the crap out of some shmuck, or make a run. But, it was never out of brotherly loyalty, it was because usually they got something in return.

A part of him wishes he can understand what Lip is trying to convey, but Mickey can't. He's never felt that brotherly affection that the Gallagher brothers have. Mandy and him are the closest out of all the Milkovich siblings and even that relationship is strained at the best of times. But, he emains quiet as Lip goes on.

"I hate the fact that he's in there and there's not a damn thing that I can do about it. I can't protect him this time. That if an overpaid doctor has a sudden itch and his hand slips too far to the right that my little brother is gonna have a permanent fucked up hand and will never be able to use a pencil or a fork the right way again."

Mickey doesn't say anything. He just takes al large sip of his beer. There's no way he's going to admit that too is his worst fear. That Gallagher's surgery is not gonna go well. That his pinky finger will still curve too much towards his other fingers. That Gallagher will only eat finger foods because he's too embarrassed to use his damaged hand as he holds a fork or a spoon. That the pain will still be so bad that he will still miss a shit ton of school because even after three percocets the pain is still so bad that he can't even get out of bed.

"And I don't know if I can take him getting another infection. I mean that fucking pneumonia last month is the reason why the surgery was rescheduled."

Mickey rubs his bottom lip with his thumb and closes his eyes. Even with his eyes closed he can recall the sounds of the ventilator breathing for Gallagher as he fought for every breath. He also clearly remembers Gallagher's delirious ramblings and the sight of his body spasming as fever induced seizures wracked his body after the second surgery to try and correct the damage done to his hand didn't go as expected. No, he can't live through that again.

"But, you know what?" Lip asks aloud.

"That you talk way too fucking much," Mickey responds.

Lip laughs. "That and que sera sera."

Mickey quirks an eyebrow "Key, what you fucker?"

He's in no mood for dealing with this shit. He has enough on his mind. All he wants to do is get drunk and pass the fuck out. And he'll regains consciousness much later when his sister wakes him up by banging pots as obnoxiously loud as possible a mere foot from his aching head, with a smirk on his face telling him that everything is okay. That Gallagher is okay. He needs to get drunk and fast. Lip's spewing this shit, talking in a foreign language is seriously putting a damper on his plan.

"It means whatever will be, will be," Lip answers.

What the fuck kind of advice is that.

Lip takes another long drag of his cigarette. "What I'm trying to say that is that whatever happens, happens. If Ian's hand is still fucked, so be it. If the surgery works and he can fucking write and use a fork like he did before, so be it. Whatever happens, happens. As long as we're there for him, that's all that matters. He's already been through hell. I mean look how far he's come. I mean after he got that blood infection and he had those fucking seizures, they didn't know how fucked up his brain will be. And now look."

Mickey nods his head. Because as much as he would hate to admit it, what Lip is saying is true. They've been down this road before. When they didn't know if firecrotch was gonna make it. And he did. So what's a little reconstructive hand surgery? For all they know it could turn out to be a success. And if it's not….then they'll deal with it. Like they did everything else that has come their way in their short lifetimes.

The ex-con rubs his bottom lip. "I thought maybe those fucking seizures will make him stop talking so fucking much, but he still rambles on about stupid shit like the rest of you fucking Gallagher's."

Lip runs his hand through his hair, "And I thought that he would actually get a better taste in men after his brain nearly fried with that temp."

Mickey takes another sip of his beer, "Yeah, you would have liked that, wouldn't you?"

Lip just shrugs. Maybe he has finally realized that Mickey and Ian are not just fuck buddies. Or maybe he knows that regardless of his relationship with Mandy, that Mickey still has no qualms about beating the shit out of him. As a sort of peace offering, Mickey bends into the paper bag and hands Lip a beer.

Lip takes the beer and opens it. The two sit there for a few minutes silently, drinking.

"Oh, here. I almost forgot. I brought these." Lip says as he tosses a bottle of pills to Mickey.

He catches it awkwardly as he's still drinking from his beer. He looks down to see that it's Ian's bottle of percocets.

"What the fuck do you have these for? He's gonna need these. You remember how I had to kick Frank's ass when he took them?"

Lip nods his head and he takes a sip of his beer. "Yeah and I also remember how I took a fist to the nose when I tried to get you off of him."

Mickey's still looking down at the bottle of pills. "I really don't know why you wouldn't let me finish him off. You guys would all be better off."

"Me, yes. Fiona, yes. Ian, yes. But for some fucked up reason both Debbie and Carl still have a soft spot for him. Couldn't let you kill him for their sakes," Lip reasons.

He guesses Lip is fucking right. The younger Gallagher's don't have as much hatred for their piece of shit father as the older ones do, probably because the older three has done everything in their power to try and protect their younger siblings from the worst of Frank's shit. And Mickey sure as hell wouldn't want to do anything to hurt Debbie. He has had a soft spot for her ever since Ian landed in the hospital over six months ago. It's probably a good thing that Lip stopped him from killing Frank. The girl would have been heartbroken and probably never want anything to do with Mickey again.

"Well, I thought we could do a little toast. He'll be on the hard shit for awhile and if all goes well he won't need those," Lip says as he points to the bottle.

A perc will definitely help his plan in getting fucked up and then passing out until Ian is out of surgery. "Sure, why the fuck not." Mickey says as he shakes a pill out of the bottle and swallows it. He offers one to Lip who quickly swallows it.

For awhile the two just sit there in the cold February air, drinking, and letting its effects mixed with the percs take over. Far too soon, Lip opens his mouth and stands up, "Come on, let's go."

The brown haired boy looks up at Gallagher. "Go where? I'm fine here."

"Come on, it's cold as fuck out here and Debbie's making cookies."

Fuck, he's hungry. "The peanut butter ones?" Mickey questions.

Lip smirks. "Yep, and double chocolate chip."

"Fuck.' Mickey whispers as he rubs his eyes. The Gallagher's play dirty.

"Fine, I'll go." Mickey says as he stands up. "But, you better keep that fucking sociopath away from me. I get a little testy when I mix booze and percs. I can't promise you anything if he gets on my nerves."

"Fair enough," Lip replies as the pair makes their way towards the door of the roof.

**XXXXX**

Two hugs from Debbie (with Mandy looking on, laughing her ass off), two dozen cookies, three threats to Carl to get the hell away from him with the nail gun, countless touches by sticky fingers courtesy of a touchy grabby three year old, one more percocet, and a shit ton of alcohol later finds Mickey sitting on the Gallagher's couch playing Xbox with Lip.

"Here," Debs says as she offers both Mickey and her brother a beer. She places a tray of various cookies on the coffee table before she takes a seat on the couch between the two older boys.

"Thanks, Debs." Mickey says as Lip nods his appreciation.

"Where's Carl?" Lip asks as he leans in to grab a cookie.

"He went over to Little Hank's house for awhile," Mandy says as she walks into the living room, with Liam on her hip.

"Thank fuck," Mickey whispers to himself, eyes never leaving the television screen. He needed a little bit of a break from the little nutjob.

"I want to play winner," Debbie says as she takes a cookie.

Both boys grunt as they continue to play the video game.

The sounds of people screaming and gun shots coming from the tv set nearly drowns out the sound of Lip's cell phone, nearly.

"Lip, your phone." Mandy says from her seat, with Liam on her lap.

He pauses the game and looks at his phone. "It's Fiona." It's all quiet in room, except for the sound of Liam's baby talk.

"Answer it, Lip." Debbie says quietly.

Lip shakes his head and moves to the kitchen for some privacy to take the call.

"I need a drink," Mandy says as she gets up.

Now it's just him and Debbie sitting in the living room.

"He's gonna be okay, Mickey." Debbie says with a small smile.

Mickey takes a sip of his beer. He doesn't know if she's trying to reassure herself or Mickey of this. "How are you so sure about that brat?"

Debs doesn't even blink when he calls her brat. That's his nickname for her. There's no malice behind it. "Well, we're here for him. And so are you. I mean you didn't leave him before when it was really bad. You're not gonna leave now, are you?" She asks nervously, biting her lip.

Leave? The thought hasn't even crossed his mind. But, then again to a kid whose mother has been gone for over a year, whose father has not been around since last month's disability check, abandoning loved ones is a common theme. The fact that Jimmy took off again not too long ago didn't help matters. No wonder why Debbie's nervous about him taking off. The kid is conditioned to think that when shit goes bad, people take off. And the sad thing if it was a year ago, he very well might've taken off. But, that was before firecrotch wormed his way into Mickey's life, as well as his heart.

"Nah, Debs. I'm not goin anywhere. You're stuck with me," Mickey says quietly.

Debbie burrows herself into Mickey's side, "Good."

He doesn't move for a second because he knows that if he tries Debbie will only try and hug him harder. And he could kinda use a hug right now. Too much booze and that second perc is making him too fucking emotional.

"Oh, isn't that sweet!"

Mickey looks up to see his sister grinning at him in the doorway. Debbie moves away from Mickey.

"Fuck off, Mandy." Mickey retorts.

"Well, if you guys are done we can go down to the hospital," Lip says as he joins Mandy in the doorway. "Fiona said that it went good. Ian's out of surgery and is in recovery. By the time we get down there, we should be able to see him."

"Oh, thank god!" Debbie says as she stands up and goes to get her coat on.

Mickey finishes his beer and stands up. "Let's get the fuck out of here." He's out the door and is making his way down the street when the Gallagher's and Mandy finally catch up to him.

"Jesus, slow down, Mickey." Mandy hisses.

"It's not my fault that you all walk slow as fuck," Mickey bites back. As they're walking up the stairs to the EL, Liam is squirming in Debbie's arms. Lip goes to grab the toddler, but he moves away from his brother's hands. To everyone's surprise he's leaning towards the ex-con. Mandy can't help but laugh when she sees her brother's eyes go huge.

Mickey shakes his head. "Sorry, kid. Ain't gonna happen."

The toddler starts to cry, attracting the attention of bystanders who are waiting on the platform. He would later blame it on the large amount of booze and the second perocet he took not too long ago for what he does next.

"Just give em' to me," the ex-con says quickly as Debbie puts the toddler into his arms. Liam instantly stops squirming and is now laughing as he's touching Mickey's face.

"How cute!" Lip says as the EL arrives into the station. Once they're all sitting down, Mickey hears the unmistakable sound of a picture being taken. He looks up to see Lip taking a picture of him holding Liam with his cell phone.

"I swear to god, Gallagher if you show that to anyone I'm gonna fucking punch you in the nuts," Mickey threatens.

For a brief second, fear does cross Lip's face. But, Liam's laugh definitely lightens the mood. The little shit has spent way too much time around Carl.

"I think Ian would like to see it, Mickey." Debbie says from her seat alongside of him with hopeful eyes.

"I think he will too, Debs." Mandy agrees.

Mickey doesn't say anything else as Liam places a sticky hand in his ear.

"Your fucking brother is gonna owe me for this shit," Mickey says.

"Yeah, I really don't want to know what he's gonna owe you," Lip says with a smirk.

Mickey sends Lip a glare and Mandy elbows her boyfriend in the ribs, but both attempts are not fast enough. Debbie looks up at Mickey as realization sets in, "Ew, gross! I don't wanna know!"

Luckily other passengers on the car send looks of disgust their way and they fall into a comfortable silence as they continue on towards the hospital.

XXXXX

Mickey's nervously biting his thumbnail as he sits in the waiting room. Lip and Mandy have already seen Ian and Debbie and the rugrat is with him at the moment. He figured that he could wait until after the family visited firecrotch before he'll go in. He hated an audience and didn't feel like having all the Gallagher's gawk at him, so he'll just wait.

Liam's squawking causes Mickey to lift his head up as Debbie walks back into the waiting room with Liam in tow.

"Hi guys," Mickey says.

"Mickey," Debbie replies as she takes the seat next to him. "Where are Lip and Mandy?"

"They went down to the cafeteria to get something to eat."

Debbie nods her head, "So are you gonna go in? I mean Fiona and Mike should be back any minute with Carl and Lip and Mandy shouldn't be too long. I don't need a baby-sitter."

Mickey snickers. He knows damn well that Debbie can take care of herself. That's not what he's worried about.

"You're not afraid are you?" Debbie asks. "Ian's okay. He's talking. True he's not making much sense. I mean he was talking about geometry theorems and asked if Carl took his switchblade. But, he does that after he takes a couple of pain pills. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Mickey doesn't say anything and sits silently as Lip comes back into the waiting room and Debbie hands over Liam to her older brother as she makes her way to the bathroom.

"Where's my sister?" Mickey asks, breaking the silence.

"She went to get Ian's MP3 player. He forgot it when he packed his bag and asked her to get it for him," Lip answers.

The ex-con nods his head in acknowledgement. The three sit there for a few minutes, Lip not wanting to break the awkward silence and Mickey not wanting to get up, not wanting to see his Gallagher laying down in a hospital bed, surrounding by machines. He saw that one too many times.

Finally, Lip opens his mouth. "Just go in, man."

Mickey runs his hand through his hair. "I hate seeing him in that damn bed."

Lip takes a deep breath, "We all do. But, if you don't go in and see him, he's gonna think you never came. That you didn't care enough to come. You know how he gets about that shit. He has enough on his plate already, so suck it up, Milkovich."

Mickey roughly nudges Lip with shoulder. Not too rough because he's still holding the youngest Gallagher. But, enough to get across that Lip is kinda pissing him off. He's getting way too comfortable, saying whatever is on his mind. No wonder where firecrotch gets it from.

But, Gallagher is right. He needs to suck it up and get it over with. He needs to visit Ian. Mickey stands up and is walking across the room when he hears Lip say aloud, "Yeah, Liam. Mickey is acting like a big boy."

With his back to the pair, he puts his middle finger up in the air. As he pushes the door to the hallway opens, he can't help it when a small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth when he hears Liam's "uh oh." The smile drops from his face when he comes to room 523. Gallagher's room. He pushes all of his reservations aside as he opens the door and makes his way towards Ian's bed.

Gallagher doesn't look too bad this time around. It's not like the first time when he was in the hospital and his face was marred with cuts and bruises. And it's not like last month when Gallagher got that bad ass case of pneumonia, when a ventilator covered most of Gallagher's face. This time Mickey can clearly see Ian's face. His red hair. His pale complexion, freckles splattered across his nose and cheeks.

In fact if it wasn't for the big ass bandage that is completely covering Ian's right hand, Mickey would never know why Ian was even in the hospital. Ian's eyes are closed, and Mickey thinks that he can see a thin line of drool running down Gallagher's chin. But that's nothing new. Ian usually sleeps a lot when he's on his pain meds. There's been plenty of times over the last couple of months when Mickey has come over to the Gallagher's to visit the redhead only to find him dead to the world after taking his pain pills.

"Firecrotch? You awake?" Mickey whispers as he comes closer to the bed.

Gallagher moves his head towards Mickey. He tries to open his eyes several times before he's successful. Glazed eyes turn to Mickey "Mick? That you?"

Mickey rolls his eyes. "Wanna tell me who the fuck else calls you firecrotch?"

Ian looks at the ex-con confused. "Huh?"

Mickey smirks as he sits down in the chair next to Ian's bed. "Fuck, for a Gallagher you're such a lightweight. It's gonna be my personal goal to make sure that Carl and Liam don't take after your sucky ass tolerance."

Ian gives him a crooked smile. "My sucky ass tolerance? Lip told me about how you took some of my percs and that you let my sister hug you three times," Ian says as holds up two fingers on his left hand

Mickey snorts. "You might've had something there, asshole if you didn't hold up two fingers when you said three."

Ian's smile falls from his face as he looks down at his hand, like it somehow failed him. "I saw the pic of you and Liam," Ian continues.

"Your brother is a douche," Mickey responds.

Ian rolls his eyes. The two sit there silently for a few minutes before Ian breaks the silence. "When I first woke up and saw Fiona and everyone, but not you I thought that you took off."

Mickey sighs. "Jesus, Gallagher. You had surgery on your hand, not your mouth. If there was a chance that the doctors fucked it up and you had a fucked up jaw and couldn't give me head, then I might be gone."

Ian's eyes grow large in alarm. Mickey rolls his eyes as he puts his tattooed hand over Ian's good one. "Relax, Gallagher. I'm joking. I'm not going anywhere."

The redhead gives the ex-con a goofy smile in return as he turns his hand so he can squeeze Mickey's tight. "You're sure."

Mickey looks to see if Ian's roommate is awake. Satisfied that he isn't, he bends down to prove that he's there to stay. He gently pushes his tongue into Ian's mouth, gently biting on the redhead's lower lip. Gallagher responds and lets Mickey's tongue explore his mouth. It's a lot softer than their kisses usually are. Far too soon, Mickey pulls away. He needs to stop now before he can't. "Is that enough proof for ya?" Mickey asks as he looks into Gallagher's eyes.

Ian nods his head.

"Knock! Knock! Mickey, you better not be taking advantage of my doped to oblivion brother," Lip calls from the doorway.

Mickey looks over his shoulder back to see Lip and Debbie holding Liam. "As if I could, Gallagher. Seriously, I don't know who's a bigger cockblock, you or my sister."

"What's a cockblock?" Debbie asks as she looks up to her older brother.

"Good one, Mick." Ian whispers from his bed.

"Thanks, Mickey." Lip quips.

"What is it, Lip?" Debbie asks again as Liam starts to squirm in her arms.

"Here, I'll take him." Mickey says as he grabs the toddler from the girl's arms.

"Nice move," Ian says as he yawns loudly, eyes closing.

"Lip, come on. Tell me."

"Ask Fiona when she gets back," Mickey offers as he settles the rugrat on his lap.

"Yeah, ask Fiona." Ian repeats as he tries with everything he has to not give in to the sleep that is tugging at him. He's listening to the sounds of his baby brother's laughs and baby speech, Mickey asking Debbie if that bitch at school is still giving her a hard time, and Lip's remarks as he's reading his brother's medical chart.

And just as he's about to give into sleep that's been beckoning him, he hears Fiona, Mike, and Carl enter his room. He's not a hundred percent sure but he think he hears Fiona screech when he hears Debbie innocently ask their older sister what a cockblock is. Mickey's whispered "fuck" and Liam's innocent "uh oh" are the last things he hears as he drifts off to sleep.

**Hey, I hope you guys liked this. I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope the mix of humor and angst balanced out well. I would really love to do some more one-shots for this verse, so if you guys have any ideas, either put it in a review or PM me. Thanks!**


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